Strategic Plan to combat TB

Razeena Razick

COLOMBO: The Government is to implement the National Programme for Tuberculosis Control and Chest Diseases (NPTCCD).

The Strategic plan (2006-2015) in this regard was presented to Minister of Health Nimal Siripala De Silva on Monday.

The document outlines the main strategic directions that the NPTCCD of Sri Lanka will follow in the next ten years. It is prepared in consultation with all stakeholders in the country and with technical support from the World Health Organization.

The Strategy builds on the achievements of DOTS (Direct Observation Therapy) over the last decade.

Globally, Tuberculosis (TB) infects over one third of the world’s population and causes over 2 million deaths every year. In Sri lanka nearly 17,000 people are estimated to suffer from TB.

Every year,it is estimated that more than 11,000 new cases arise. It says that if the DOTS programme is maintained as planned, the number of deaths in this period will be reduced by 66 percent.

The NPTCCD is implementing TB control in two ways - it oversees the Public Health Services and provides technical guidance to the district chest clinics. Drugs are made available from the chest clinics to the estate health facilities.

The NPTCCD conducted under the technical assistance of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s The Global Drug Facility (GDF) has committed to provide drugs through its grant mechanism for three years.

It is expected to achieve MDG targets of reversing the incidence of TB by 2015. Over the next ten years,some 20,000 lives ill be saved. More than 100,000 people will be treated for TB under the new WHO-recommended stop TB strategy.